Red snapper season may be shortest ever at 27 days, meeting in Orange Beach

Scientists agree the red snapper population is booming. But federal rules designed to protect species from overfishing have resulted in shorter and shorter seasons as the Gulf's snapper population rebuilds. (Ben Raines/braines@AL.com)

The 2013 red snapper season may be just 27 days long, nearly two weeks shorter than last year's 40-day season, which was the shortest on record.

It is also possible the 2013 season could end up even shorter than 27 days. Much shorter.

Louisiana and Florida have hinted they may opt to regulate snapper fishing in their state waters in 2013 and not follow the federal rules. Texas already sets its own season and limits. If Florida or Louisiana follow suit, Alabama anglers could be looking at a 12 day snapper season, said Chris Blankenship, head of the Alabama Division of Marine Resources.

The season estimates are included in a document prepared by federal officials for a meeting of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council's reef fish committee. Federal officials said Monday that a new stock assessment for red snapper is due later this year, before the start of snapper season. If that assessment shows the population is larger than expected, it is possible the season could end up being longer than 27 days.

While scientists and fishermen agree the Gulf's snapper population is expanding quickly, federal rules have resulted in shorter and shorter seasons for the last four years. The key to the conundrum is an increase in the average size of the Gulf's snapper population.

Fish today are twice as large as they were in 2007, jumping from an average of about 3.5 pounds to more than 7 pounds in 2012. Meanwhile, the annual quota has scarcely increased.

"With the way snapper is being managed federally under the Magnuson Act, we're caught in a spiral where the fish get bigger as the management is successful, but
the quotas are not getting bigger," Blankenship said.

Discontent among state officials, and the Gulf's recreational fishermen and charter boat captains is reaching a boiling point. The disgruntled will have a chance to vent at public scoping meetings in Biloxi on Tuesday and Orange Beach on Wednesday.

Up for discussion is a possible switch in the way the Gulf's snapper population is regulated. Instead of a one size fits all rule that means snapper season opens across the Gulf on June 1 and ends a few weeks later, some have proposed switching to regional management.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council plans to draft an amendment that would pave the way for regional management. The meetings offer the public a chance to weigh in on what that management should look like.

Right now, Blankenship said, no one is sure how it would work. Under a regional system, the Gulf would be divided into different zones, and each zone would operate under rules specifically tailored to a given area. It is unclear what role the federal government would play under a regional system. If the National Marine Fisheries Service is still in charge of setting the season length and annual quota, a regional system wouldn't offer much change, Blankenship said.

Roy Crabtree, who sets snapper regulations for the National Marine Fisheries Service, said the federal agency would still set the annual quota. Under a regional system, he said, each state would be given a portion of that quota. State officials could then set a daily limit and a season. A state could opt for allowing snapper fishing on weekends only, for instance, thus allowing a longer season.

"One of the things up for discussion is what would the regions be. Louisiana and Mississippi seem like a logical pair, the way their coastlines fit together. Alabama would rather be its own region," Blankenship said. "The state has spent a lot of money building these artificial reefs and this snapper population."

The problem, he said, is that most of Alabama's snapper reefs are in federal waters, which begin three miles from shore. State waters off Florida and Texas, meanwhile, extend nine miles from shore. Snapper typically favor deeper water farther offshore.

"Currently Texas has an open season in their state waters, even when the federal season is closed. And Louisiana is very likely to have a season in state waters even when federal waters are closed. Florida may decide to do the same thing,"

Blankenship said. "Our state waters do not have as much snapper habitat, so that limits what Alabama can do."

Blankenship, who is a member of the Gulf Council, said the regional management issue popped up because the states are so unhappy with federal management.

"We're unhappy with the length of the season and the quota," Blankenship said. "We know we have plenty of fish here."

Alabama has an exceptionally large red snapper population due to decades of building artificial reefs offshore. There are around 20,000 artificial reefs off the state's 56 mile coastline today.

Each state has a different amount of habitat suitable for red snapper, Shipp said. He suggested the variable limits set in each state for different species could serve as a model for snapper regulation, instead of the current method.

He pointed to speckled trout as a perfect example. Louisiana allows anglers to keep 25 per day, while Alabama allows 10 per day, and Florida allows just four. Each state set limits based on fish population data specific to its waters.

But Shipp is not in favor of the idea of regional management as it is currently proposed. He said that the heart of the problem lies in a quota that is too small based on the current fish population. Switching to regional management with the feds in charge of the annual quota amounts to "a shell game" he said, and wouldn't result in significantly longer seasons or better management.

The meeting in Biloxi will begin Tuesday night at 6 p.m. at the Four Points by Sheraton, 940 Beach Boulevard.

The meeting in Orange Beach will be held at 6 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn, 23092 Perdido Beach Blvd.

For more information about the scoping meetings and the Gulf Council, click here.